SACRAMENTO -
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) today announced a settlement agreement
of over $17,000 with Allou Health and Beauty Care, Inc. of Delaware, for
the sale of hair spray that violated the state's air rules.

ARB Chairman John Dunlap
said, "When faced with the challenge of clearing California's skies
of air pollution, consumer products individually contribute very little,
but when we take these products as a whole they add tons of air pollutants
to our air each day."

The settlement stems
from investigations that took place in 1994 and 1995, when ARB inspectors
found at two Sacramento area Price Club stores, the sale of Allou's hair
spray products that exceeded state limits for volatile organic compounds
(VOCs). VOCs react in the atmosphere to form ground-level ozone, the major
component of smog.

ARB inspectors found
containers of Sebastian and Redken hair spray products that exceeded state
standards, which limit hair spray products to no more than 80 percent VOC
content. In addition, ARB inspectors found that there were hundreds more
listed on Allou's invoices to Price Club.

Allou Inc. agreed not
to sell in California any consumer products that violate state air regulations.
As part of the settlement agreement, Allou will pay the full settlement
amount of $17,500 to the ARB.

Last July the ARB adopted
new standards for 18 categories of consumer products that include more
than 3,000 individual products. These include auto wax, rubbing and polishing
compounds, carpet and upholstery cleaners, floor wax strippers and spot
removers. As the new regulations are phased in through 2005, emissions
from these products will be reduced by about 16 tons per day.

The Air Resourses
Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency.
ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological
resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing
and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution
control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality
standards.